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Quick background: Graduated 9 months ago. Did two very short, temp jobs through contract agencies. One in the food/beveral industry, the other in plant research to make pesticides and chemicals that improve plants. Unemployed right now and have nearly lost all hope (see my other post if you want more details). I did basically nothing special or extra during my undergrad outside of classwork. I did do one summer internship with mollusks and microscopes. I did not do research under a professor like 40% or so of biology grads do...and I regret that very much. At least I did the internship. I have a 3.8 gpa from a school ranked within the top 150 according to U.S. News & World Report. I have taken a few more lab classes than the degree required, due to some scheduling problems.

Are my chances of landing a lab technican job better in industry or in acadamia? Since I didn't do research under a professor, does that now mean I have no chance of getting a job in academia? Or are my qualifications good enough? I've applied before...and didn't get to the interview. But the universities I applied to were University of Chicago and RUSH Medical center, two top schools that might be as selective for job applicants as they are for undergraduate applicants (UoC accepts less than like 15% of all undergrad applicants).